Modern Bhd. American v. White
| Decision Date | 06 November 1917 |
| Docket Number | Case Number: 8101 |
| Citation | 168 P. 794,1917 OK 523,66 Okla. 241 |
| Parties | MODERN BROTHERHOOD OF AMERICA v. WHITE et al. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
¶0 1. Evidence -- Presumptions- Suicide.
Upon an issue of suicide, self-destruction is never presumed.
2. Insurance---Life Insurance-- Defense of Suicide---Burden of Proof.
In an action upon a life insurance policy where the defense is the suicide of the insured, the burden of establishing self-destruction by a preponderance of the evidence is upon the insurer.
3. Same.
Where the beneficiary in furnishing proof of death as provided by the policy forwards an ex parte statement of an acting coroner that the death of the insured was caused by suicide, the same is not sufficient to cast upon the beneficiary the burden of proving that the insured did not commit suicide.
4. Insurance--Life Insurance--Change of Name--Defense--Assumed Name.
The fact that the insured, many years before the date of the policy involved here, had changed his name from William M. Ireland to Henry Head Grey, by which latter name the policy of insurance was issued, is not a defense available to the company in an action brought by the beneficiary to collect thereon, as the same does not constitute a breach of warranty as provided for in the policy; for, while it is the custom for persons to bear the surname of their parents, it is not obligatory, and one may lawfully change his name without resort to legal proceedings, and for all purposes the name thus assumed will constitute his legal name just as much as if he had borne it from birth.
Error from District Court, Oklahoma County; John W. Hayson, Judge.
Action by M. Lillian White and another against the Modern Brotherhood of America. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendant brings error. Affirmed.
Sam Sparrow and Hainer, Burns & Toney, for plaintiff in error.
T. J. McComb and Stephen C. Treadwell, for defendants in error.
¶1 On May 26, 1908, Dr. Henry Head Grey, or William M. Ireland, then a resident of Oklahoma City, made application to the plaintiff in error for a benefit certificate in the sum of $ 2,000 payable at this death to his then wife, Fannie A. Grey. Question 1, or part 1, of his application and his answer thereto, was as fellows:
¶2 His application contained, following the foregoing question and answer, and others, and over his signature, the following agreements:
¶3 On June 16, 1908, the plaintiff in error issued to said Grey its benefit certificate payable as requested, which was accepted and retained by him until about September 11, 1912, when he surrendered it to the plaintiff in error for cancellation and requested that another be issued to him in lieu thereof, payable to his sister, Mrs. White, which request was complied with, and on September 30, 1912, the benefit certificate herein sued on was issued and delivered to him, which he accepted and retained until his death. This benefit certificate contained, among others, the following provisions:
¶4 Also, the certificate provides that:
¶5 In case of death, "if a coroner's inquest has been held, a copy of the coroner's verdict, or the verdict of the coroner's jury, properly certified, must be furnished by claimant as part of the proof of death; provided, that in any action at law or equity brought to enforce the collection of this certificate, or any amount alleged to be due thereunder, claimant shall not be entitled to receive nor recover interest on the amount thereof, nor in any such action shall the term 'monthly combined contribution' as used in the by-laws of this society be construed to mean an advance assessment or payment."
¶6 About March 10, 1914, insured, Henry Head Grey, or William M. Ireland, departed this life in Kansas City, Mo., and thereafter, in due time, the beneficiary, Mrs. White, furnished to the plaintiff in error the proof of death as provided for in the application and the certificate aforesaid. In the affidavit made by her, thus furnished to the company, the following questions and answers appear:
¶7 It appears from the record that the body of the insured was found in a room at the Blossom Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., and the manner of his death was a disputed question at issue in this case; the plaintiff in error contending that he committed suicide, and the beneficiary in said certificate disputing that fact.
¶8 A deputy coroner, who Was a physician, a resident of Kansas City, Mo., was called to view the body when the same was found, and in his judgment a coroner's inquest was not necessary; therefore no inquest was held over the body, but the beneficiary, Mrs. White, at the time she furnished proof of death of the insured, forwarded to the company a statement of this deputy coroner which in substance said that the deceased came to his death by cyanide poison with suicidal intent. It is asserted by the plaintiff in error that the proof of death thus furnished by the beneficiary, Mrs. White, to the company, established a prima facie case of suicide on the part of the insured, and that the burden thereafter rested upon the beneficiary in said certificate to establish that the insured did not commit suicide, and that the beneficiary failed to establish, by the evidence introduced upon the trial below, this fact.
¶9 It is further asserted that according to the provision of the certificate it was the duty of the beneficiary to furnish to the plaintiff in error this affidavit of the acting coroner showing the manner and the cause of the death of the deceased, and that, the same being provided for by the terms of the contract, the plaintiff in error had the right to rely thereupon and to accept the statements therein contained as true, and that the beneficiary was bound thereby, unless she should establish that the statements made in this proof of death were made under a misapprehension of the facts or in ignorance of material matters subsequently ascertained.
¶10 It is further claimed by the plaintiff in error that this certificate sued upon here was void by reason of the breach of warranty, in that the insured stated in his application that his name was Henry Head Grey, and over his own signature warranted that statement to be true, and by the terms of the contract especially agreed that, if said warranty was not true, this certificate shall thereupon become null and void; that the name of the applicant and the insured was not Henry Head Grey, but William M. Ireland, which fact was unknown to the company; and that by reason of this false representation the warranty clause of the application and certificate has been broken and the certificate thereby rendered void.
¶11 With these contentions of the plaintiff in error, we are unable to agree. By reference to the certificate, which constitutes the contract, the affidavit of the acting coroner thus forwarded by Mrs. White to the plaintiff in error at the time she made proof of death was not required by the contract, and the statements contained therein thus made by the acting coroner do not constitute prima facie proof that the...
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